Complaint Review: penofin

Penofin for hardwoods failed within 3 months and grew mildew within its oil finish and then down into the hardwood deck boards, trim and even into hardwood soffit. CSR's are completely untrained except to deny any responsibility for their product failure. "You must have applied too much" ... "then you must have applied too little" (ie whatever you say - they say the opposite) ... etc. To simply verify a mildew growth vs. tannin bleed (another bogus claim by them) all you have to do is place a drop of bleach on the surface. As it quickly removes the black you have confirmed it is mildew. Tannin is unaffected by bleach.

Decks and exterior wood trim require proper continual maintainence, and it's a shame that companies such as penofin are still out there preying on us and faking us out with their lying bloggers and bogus claims. The fundamental flaw with their product is that it is essentially oil, which grows mildew very quickly and very thoroughly. They add copious amounts of mildewcides, which only work (if at all) for a very short time. That is where the horrible sickening stench comes from. Most other manufacturers utilize an alkyd/oil blend strategy. I didn't know any better and bought into all their lies about rosewood oil, etc (thinking hardwoods need a hardwood oil, etc). 

They refused any responsibility and refused any refund. After realizing I would not let up they reluctantly sent a container of 'hydrogen peroxide' deck wash to help. "...ok, whatever - I'll let it go...". By now you'd think I would look up their msds instead of take their word.... The 'cleaner' contained soda ash (by-product of a coal fired plant). There is no intelligent reason to put this coal fire waste into a deck wash (maybe they're getting paid money by industry or govt to use/dispose of it in their product?). The ash alters the cleaner's ph to an alkaline level, which makes it a weak stripping solution. Neither cleaner nor stripper......wtf? It did a poor cleaning job and partially dissolved their finish. What a HUGE MESS! The result was a haze/film on the window glazing, chaulking and staining the very expensive marvin window cladding and streaking and hazing to the painted hardi panel siding.

So now there is thousands of dollars of property damage caused directly by penofin products. Citrus based stove top cleaner removed the window film. The cladding is permanently damaged and will have to repaint my siding. Used professional grade alkaline stripper, oxalic acid etc to remediate their failed finish. It all washed away clean - leaving no partially disolved finish film.  Applied alkyd/oil blend on hardwoods - plain old Cabot on sale - and almost 1 year later looks great. Obviously I will need to clean, and possibly apply a 2nd coat if/where needed - which is expected. Only a little SURFACE mildew here and there - totally acceptable and normal. The penofin hardwood finish turned over 90% of the deck boards SOLID BLACK WITH MILDEW IN LESS THAN 3 MONTHS. Worse still it left mildew stains on much of the surface. Only other finish I have see do this (in my 20 plus years of experience) is when someone unwhittingly applies linseed oil to exterior wood. 

Also tested one-time brand deck finish to a section of vertical trim, deck posts and soffiting. Just over one year later and so far the surfaces look unaffected. Obviously that company's claim of 7 years of performance cannot be expected to be true. But if it lasts say 3-4 yrs and doesn't grow mildew within, and then under its finish like say -penofin does - then it will be worth every penny.